We just upgraded from CS3 to CS5 and have run into a huge problem for our workflow.

For the past 10 years, all of our preview files have been sent to the client as mpeg1 files to insure that they can be viewed by all.

Because CS5 cannot export mpeg1 files, we tried an mpeg2 for our first project on CS5. The client cannot view mpeg2 files! I had to import it into our old system to create an mpeg1 file they could view.

Any chance Adobe will reincorporate mpeg1 outputs? Any add-on I can install to allow me to do this?

I really don't want to export something else, and then externally create an mpeg1 file.

If they don't we'll just refuse their payments. That'll show them......

Nice one! Yes, as you've noticed, we have some jokesters on the forum who have the great privelige of not functioning in the real world

I'm not aware of any means of directly exporting MPEG-1 from CS5--it IS an antiquate codec, and some choices have been made to let certain dinosaurs go extinct. So that leaves you with exporting an intermediate for recompression elsewhere, or changing up your exported format to something slightly newer.

Is this a matter of cross-platform playback? Older computers? Less-than-technically-inclined customers? A couple of other choices for export format would be Windows Media (WMV) or H.264. Windows Media will, obviously, playback on Windows machines without much effort, but Macs would require the Windows Media Components for QuickTime. It's a free download, but again... it's a download.

H.264 is becoming more ubiquitous, but is still a little mysterious. Most H.264 files will playback in QuickTime Player on both platforms (another download), and Windows Media Player will play them back without any additional work on Windows 7. Earlier versions of Windows would require a decoder to be installed.

If you're so inclined and enabled, an easy way to make your media viewable on any platform is to deploy it on the web. I'm not talking about YouTube, but using an embedded Flash Video player like JW Player to create a preview web page for your client. The video format is less important here (though obviously there are particular requirements for Flash video playback); a quick Flash Player download, and you're in business.

I guess the biggest question is: is this a solution you need to find for a single client, or for all of your clients?

We are looking for something to use as a standard for all clients (which is why mpeg1 was so useful).

It looks like our workflow now may be a wmv for most clients, and then perhaps an H264 conversion for our mac clients (I know a lot of our clients are not able to install ANYTHING on thei computers).

I've tried an H264 expot directly from Premiere, but was very disapointed with the results. I've gotten great results opening a file with QT Player Pro and exporting an H264, but through Adobe products, not so much....

I've tried an H264 expot directly from Premiere, but was very disapointed with the results. I've gotten great results opening a file with QT Player Pro and exporting an H264, but through Adobe products, not so much....

Hmm... well, what is your typical source footage/sequence, and your intended destination frame size/bit rate? The included H.264 in Premiere/AME isn't the greatest, but it's plenty capable. If you can give some parameters, I might be able to help you come up with an encoding recipe.

Sorry to be necroposting, but hopefully someone at Adobe sees this and realizes that while MPEG1 may be a dinosaur, it is also the format most compatible with the majority of legal software in the United States. Many law firms still have computers that don't even have DVD drives, and require files delivered on CD-Rom so that they can view them. I'd say about 1 in 4 law firms in LA, Miami, and Las Vegas all have this issue. The software I've used, which is almost every platform available, to present legal video requires mpeg-1 in order to review deposition transcripts, create clips for presentation, and export to powerpoint. I've been working in legal videography for 15 years, and MPEG-1, 352x240 is still the defacto standard in the legal industry in order to have glitch-free presentation, and when millions (and occasionally billions) depend on a smooth presentation without having to worry about codec hiccups moving files across multiple PCs, MPEG1 is still the safest route. I really hate that I have to edit in a program as comprehensive as Premiere but it can't export to the long-running standard for this little tiny industry called the Entire Litigation Support business. It's like having an 84 inch TV that does everything except get local channels because local TV is too old school.